Apparatus for raising sunken vessels.



T. H. GAWLEY.

APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKBN VESSELS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, 1912.

1,062,963. Patented May .27, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

awe/Moz- T/mms E azz/Zey T. H. GAWLEY.

APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKBN VESSELS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12. 1912.

1,062,963. Patented May 27, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

20 /9 2/ I i /fi" 1 a /6 l COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS HECTOR GAWLEY, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-SIXTHT0 WILLIAM H. BYRNES, JR., AND ONE-SIXTH TO EDWARD C. BYRNES, BOTH OFNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS.

Patented May 2'7, 1913.

Application filed April 12, 1912. Serial No. 690,319.

I '0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, THOMAS H. GAWLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State ofLouisiana, have invented new and. useful Improvements in Apparatus forRaising Sunken Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

The general object of the lnvention is to maintain the opposite ends ofa sunken .vessel in horizontal alinement while the vessel is ascendingto the surface of the water under the action of floating apparatus; andto this end the invention consists in certain improved constructions,arrangements and combinations of devices, which will be fully describedhereinafter, and then pointed out in the claim.

Other objects will appear and be better understood from that embodimentof my invention of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanymeans for expelling the water from the" tonlpples 1212 carried by compressed air tanks 1313, which are arrangedover oplower hold and raising one end of the vessel. Fig. 3 is a detailpartly in section and elevation of the tackle for one end of the vessel.

The invention is adapted for use in connection with vessels sunkalongside docks or in open rivers, bays or in the sea; and since boatsare usually employed for carrying the operating mechanism of the usualfloating apparatus, I have elected to show such operating mechanism,hereinafter described, arranged on a boat, although if the vessel weresunk adjacent to a wharf, this apparatus could readily be installed uponand operated from such wharf if such arrangement were found convenient.

The boat a is adapted for carrying a suitable air compressor 7) and asuitable container 0 which is suitably connected such as by a pipe cl,to the discharge of the compressor b.

A header 5 suitably connected to one end of the container 0, forms thedischarge passage from the container and carries a series of nipples 6,each of which has a suitable controlling valve 7 which operates tocontrol the passage of compressed air through Fig. 2 is a detail showinga' the nipple. The disposition of the container and the header with itsvalve controlled nipples, is such as to render the valves 7 readilyaccessible to the operator on the boat a.

The nipples 6 and the upper ends of a plurality of flexible tubes orpipes S, are adapted for detachable connection to each other and bypreference the nipples 6 extend downwardly so as to prevent the formingof kinks in the pipes when in use and as straight a passage as possiblefor the compressed air from the nipples through the pipes.

The length of the pipes will, of course, be equal, or substantially so,to the depth of that portion of the body of water in which the vesselhas sunk and at their lower ends certain of these pipes are adapted forconnection to nozzles 99, while others are adapted for connection toY-couplings 10. Those pipes to which the Y-couplings are connected go tothe opposite ends of the sunken vessel and the pipes 1111 which connectto the couplings 10l0, diverge downwardly as shown in Fig. 8, so as tostraddle the sunken vessel and are connected posite portions at theopposite ends of the vessel. The nozzles 99 are by preference, angularin shape and are of such lengths as to admit of their being insertedinto the lower holds of the sunken vessel.

In the drawings I have shown the device employed in connection with asunken vessel e which rests on its side. This vessel is also shown ashaving fore, mid-ship and aft hatchways. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thehatchways 14 are open and the nozzles 9 pass through the between deckcompartments 15 and into the lower holds 16 where they dischargeupwardly as shown in Fig. 2. In this connection the compressed air tankswhich are oblong and extend fore and aft of the vessel, are arrangedalongside the bottom of the Vessel at a trifle above the keel andalongside the upper deck. As shown in Fig. 3, the compressed air tanksare provided on their lower sides with openings 17 through which asufficient quantity of water is admitted to so weight the tanks as toenable them to sink from the surface of the water where they are partlyfilled, to the vessel 6.

The operation of weighting and sinking the tanks 13 is done prior tocompressing the air into the tanks, and as they lower or sink they aredirected to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, by suitable tackleconnected to the tanks and in the hands of the divers or operatorspositioned at the sunken vessel. hen lowered the tanks at each end ofthe vessel, are connected to the opposite ends of a chain 18 passedaround the end portion of the vessel as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Thisdone, and with the valves 7 open and the compressor compressing into thecontainer 0, the water in the tanks 13 is forced through the openings 17by the air entering the tanks through the pipes 1l11. The buoyancy ofthe tanks, of course, increases as the water is expelled therefrom andupon the expulsion of all the water and when the tanks have attainedtheir maximum buoyancy their lifting effect on the vessel will besufficient to move the same. However, and in order to reduce the strainon the tanks 1313, the compressed air passing through the nozzles S) andinto the lower holds 16 displaces the water and thereby renders thevessel more buoyant and accelerates the lifting or upward movementthereof.

Practice has demonstrated that in raising vessels by the use ofcompressed air, one end of the vessel invariably moves upwardly fasterthan the other. This permits the compressed air to escape when thefaster moving end projects above the water whereupon and upon thereceding into the water of this last-named end, the water will rush intothe space from which it was expelled thereby causing that end to sinkrapidly, while the other end may move upwardly beyond the surface of thewater and thus permit the compressed air to escape with the result thatthe vessel will again fill and sink to the bottom.

\Vith the present construction the tendency of one end of the vessel torise faster than the other may be overcome by operat ing the valves 7 soas to cut off the supply of compressed air to the tanks and holds atthat end of the vessel which is seen or observed to rise more rapidlythan the other. This cut-off of air may be continued until the vessel ishorizontal after which the valves may be operated or opened so as toagain admit air to the holds and tanks as before. By so operating thevalves as occasioned by the conditions before stated, the vessel may becontrolled to rise on an even keel or in horizontal position and may bemaintained with her upper surface flush with the sur face of the waterso as to be towed in that position to the most convenient place forbeaching or turning her upright.

In carrying my invention into practice, I found it desirable to utilizea discharge conduit in conjunction with each nipple 9 to facilitate theexpulsion of the water from the hold of the vessel. This dischargeconduit is indicated at 19 and in the present instance is bent at rightangles to itself as at 20 and terminates immediately adjacent thelowermost part or wall of the hold, the outer extremity of the conduitbeing threaded or otherwise fastened to a sealing plate 21 closing thehatchway in the top deck of the vessel and provided with a passagethrough which is passed the nipple 9. Should the vessel be resting on aneven keel or be in a substantially upright position, the conduit wouldbe straight, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. Thus, the waterwithin the hold will, under the action of the air entering the hold fromthe nipple 9 be forced outwardly of the vessel through the conduit 19.If desired or deemed advisable, the conduit 15) may, at an appropriatepoint in its length, be equipped with a check valve or the like toprevent back flow of water into the hold subsequent to the discharge ofsuch water therefrom.

hat is claimed as new is:

An apparatus for raising sunken vessels comprising a header adapted forconnection to the container of an air compressor and having a pluralityof valve controlled nipples, a plurality of compressed air tanks, meansfor connecting said tanks in pairs and admitting of their disposition onopposite portions of the vessel to be raised, a plurality of flexibletubes carried by the nipples, a plurality of tubes carried by the tanks,Y- couplings connecting certain of the first with the second namedtubes, sealing plates secured in the hatches of the vessel, nozzlesextending through said plates and connected to the other of the firstmentioned conduits, and discharge conduits also secured in said plates.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS HECTOR GATVLEY.

Vitnesses GEORGE SCHMITT, Enwn. C. BYRNES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

